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A moment or two after witching hour...

On our final full day of the vacation, the five of us decided to take a trip back to the Miromar Outlet Mall to spend some of our remaining dollars. The day proved to be one of the hottest days of our trip, and we managed to catch some of the rays walking around the outdoor mall.

Eunice & Lou went on their merry way, whilst Steven, Lucy & I visited stores such as Nike, Timberland, Ralph Lauren and Gap. Following the purchase of winter jackets, trainers and several shirts, we finished up and drove back over to the Tanger Outlets for further purchases.

An hour later we were heading back to Cape Coral for a late lunch at Rumrunners. The food, as had been on the previous two occasions was delightful, and we shall certainly make the effort to return there for a meal of some kind next year.

We made the short drive around the corner to our villa, where we enjoyed one last swim in the pool, before changing for a night out over on Pine Island. During our boat trip on Wednesday, Captain Bob had informed us that he played in a band, and that they were performing on Friday evening at his local drinking hole, Bert's Bar & Grille.

The short drive over took only 15 minutes and we parked outside the bar in front of a sign marked 'Bert's Parking' (the five of us chuckled at thoughts of being asked to move the vehicle later in the evening by Bert himself!). As we walked into the bar for the first time, we were met by a number of gazes from the turned heads of locals sat at the bar, and we wandered through to find an appropriate table to sit at to order our meals.

Shortly after sitting down, the three band members took their place at the front of the room, and sure enough, there was Captain Bob preparing to pluck away at his bass guitar!

Wave Running...

Iain shows off his wave running skills

Iain & Steven keep their eyes peeled for dolphins

A rare sight on this particular dolphin tour - a dolphin!

Iain & Steven enjoy the sea with a game of ball

A car Lucy & I hope to rent for our wedding holiday next year

We returned to our villa to be greeted by a White Ibis on the lawn

Aye Aye Captain...

Iain & Lucy await the arrival of Captain Bob on their villa dock

Captain Bob arrives with our rented boat

Lou, Eunice & Steven enjoy the views from up front

Iain takes in the sun at the rear of the boat

Lucy takes in some rays at the rear of the boat

We arrive at our destination - Cabbage Key

Steven, Lou, Eunice & Lucy ready to order lunch at the restaurant

The restaurant is covered in thousands of $1 bills

The five of us left our own mark on the restaurant

Eunice & Lou on their way up the water tower

A view from the top of the water tower

We returned to our villa as dusk settled

Iain cracks open a bottle of bubbly

Iain & Lucy celebrate a year's engagement

We want to ride our bicycles...

A racoon crosses the road at J.N. 'Ding' Darling National Wildlife Refuge

Lucy & Steven enjoy their bike ride

A couple of racoons hunting for fish

J.N. 'Ding' Darling National Wildlife Refuge

Steven & Iain play football on the beach at Casa Ybel

Thistle Lodge Restaurant - The venue of our wedding dinner in 2009

Lovely Hooters at Fort Myers Beach...

We were up and out of the villa at 9:30am this morning for a meeting with a man by the name of Dale. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss options for Lucy & my wedding, which we plan to hold this time next year.

We arrived at the home of Dale at 10:00am (coincidentally a stones throw away from the villa we stayed at last year), and by 10:40am we had handed over a $300 deposit to secure the date of Thursday 19th November 2009.

After the meeting we drove over to Fort Myers Beach ready for lunch, which we decided to have at Hooters.

The boys pose for the camera with Ashley - the Hooters girl

Steven & Iain play frisbee on Fort Myers Beach

Iain records a hole-in-one at Jungle Golf

Lucy putts for par

An enjoyable day in Sanibel...

The weather over the last week has been excellent, particularly the last two or three days where the temperatures have been well into the 80's. The forecast for today however was for a pleasant morning followed by high winds & rain in the afternoon and into the evening.

With that in mind we made an early start to the day and drove over to Sanibel Island with the intention of hiring bicycles. On arriving at Sanibel we stumbled upon Billy's Bike Rentals and pulled in to view our options. Lou & Eunice hired a 2-seater surrey and Lucy, Steven & I hired a single-speed bike each.

Lou & Eunice went on their way and the three of us set off shortly after. Sanibel is a great island for cycling, with designated cycle networks heading in all directions, and the right of way at road junctions.

We headed in the direction of Captiva Island, which lies at the northern side of Sanibel. Approximately 30 minutes into our ride I caught a glimpse of a large turtle basking in the sun several yards off our cycle path. As we returned to get a better view it darted down a burrow and out of site before we could take a photo.

Having encountered our first wildlife, we made every effort to keep our eyes peeled for further creatures, and within minutes I had spotted another, this time a slender object caught my attention and my suspicions were confirmed as I made a u-turn. The creature on this occasion was a snake, approximately 3½-4 feet in length. We have all seen snakes and reptiles in zoos and wildlife preserves before, but the three of us had never seen one in the wild until now. Unfortunately it had zipped out of sight before our cameras had been pulled from our pockets and we had to continue our ride.

It wasn't long before Steven caught site of another slim, black object in the grasses by our route, and sure enough we witnessed another snake. This time we were very careful not to frighten it into darting out of site, and were able to follow it along the side of our path, taking multiple photographs (on arriving back at the villa we determined that the snake was a Southern Black Racer, luckily for us they are non-venomous).

A Southern Black Racer on Sanibel Island

Having hired the bikes for a 2 hour period, we made our way back after approximately an hour into the ride, viewing a third snake as we rode back. As we arrived back at the rental shop, the rain that had been forecast began to fall and we were able to take shelter in our vehicle.

Lucy on her bicycle

Lucy & Steven on the ride back to the car

After a quick shop and a very heavy downpour, we drove up to Captiva to lunch at the Green Flash, a restaurant we dined at on our previous trip to Florida last year.

All of our meals were delicious, as were the desserts of key lime pie enjoyed by Lucy & Steven, and the chocolate cheesecake that I consumed.

The clouds again began to close in and we made our way off the islands to a Walmart Supercenter in Cape Coral. After a quick shop we headed back to the villa, Steven, Lucy, Lou & I hit the pool for an evening swim, then enjoyed omelette's for our evening meal in the villa and a cosy night in.

Boca Grande...

Today, all five of us decided to start the day with a dip in the pool. Iain and Steven indulged in a few ball games whilst Eunice, Lou and I pottered about at the shallow end in an attempt to avoid becoming human targets.

Late morning we headed out to Boca Grande, a very pretty little town on Gasparilla Island off the North West Coast of Cape Coral. We arrived just in time for lunch which we enjoyed at The Loose Caboose a family owned restaurant in the town's historic rail depot.

Lucy & Iain at the Loose Caboose

Lou enjoys a lunchtime tipple at the Loose Caboose

After lunch we took a moment to watch the American Bald Eagle nesting on top of the local radio tower, pointed out to us by one of the restaurant waitresses, who was also kind enough to loan us a pair of binoculars! Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the Long Eared Owls which we were told also reside in the area.

Can you spot the Bald Eagle?

How about now?

Continuing through the town we indulged in ice creams from the Pink Pony and headed down to the beach to take in the spectacular sunset by the lighthouse. As dusk set in the town began it's annual 'Christmas Walk' - the streets were lined with luminairs and the shops all stayed open late offering snacks and drinks to residents and visitors. The only public toilets in the town were based at the local fire station where we saw the firemen decorating their engines and Iain & Steven bumped into Santa, who was getting ready for his appearance in the parade.

Steven paddles in the ocean

Lucy takes a stroll along the beach at Boca Grande

The sun begins to set

A beautiful sunset from the beach at Boca Grande

Boca Grande Lighthouse

The streets were illuminated in preparation for the annual Christmas Walk

The final decorations are laid on the firetrucks

The only disappointment of the day was that we were too late to hire a golf buggy, a popular means of transport around the town.

Shop till we drop Part II...

Today we decided to head back out to the shops in an attempt to bag some 'Black Friday' bargains. Most of our shopping time was spent at the Coastland Centre, Naples where we battled our way through the holiday crowds. A little later, once we'd warmed up, we moved on to Books-A-Million and finally the Tanger Outlets in Fort Myers.

With a full trunk, sore feet and almost empty wallets we filled the car up with gas, stocked up on a few groceries at Publix and headed back to the villa, stopping off at Smugglers Cove Adventure Golf for a quick moonlit round on the way. Iain battled hard for a win but was pipped to the post by Steven, who's victory was helped by a hole in one.

Smugglers Cove Adventure Golf, Fort Myers

Lou, Eunice, Steven and Iain enjoy a quick round of miniature golf

After returning to the villa the five of us played a game of Pot Limit Omaha poker, Eunice reigned victorious following a run of good cards.